They’re singing through the ages

The singing done in the churches of Weston County, whether it be classical hymns or modern worship music, is a continuation of a tradition thousands of years old. When residents gather on weekends to celebrate their faith, they are following in the musical footsteps of some of the earliest characters in the Bible.
“Many profoundly beautiful classical music works were, and still are, written for Christian worship. Christian music varies through time and across cultures. Thus, we have a rich body of music from history and contemporary works that we are blessed to have in our treasury,” said Jane Abernathy, an organist at Corpus Christi Catholic Church.
And the history of that treasury is exactly what we will be looking at today for our third installment of the Heart of Worship series. Music has always been a very important part of the worship structure described in the Scriptures, both lyrically and instrumentally, and it has been creatively explored and developed by artists over the years. 
The first appearance of music we find in the Bible begins with Cain’s lineage recorded
in Genesis. His descendant Adah had two sons named Jabal and Jubal. Jabal became the father of tent dwellers, while his brother was a musician who became the father of the lyre and pipe, according to Genesis 4:21-22. 
Later, Miriam, the sister of Moses, danced with a tambourine as the Israelites made their exodus out of Egypt, and David is recorded playing the harp to quiet the spirit of Saul (Exodus 15:20; 1 Samuel 16:23). 
“Music in the Christian church has its roots in our Jewish ancestors. In the Old Testament of the Bible, there are very many references to music in their liturgical worship. Moses and the Israelites sang praise to God during the Exodus, and the psalms are ancient songs that were accompanied by instruments,” Abernathy said.  
And that tradition carried on into the New Testament. Jesus sang a hymn with the Twelve Apostles before his arrest, the apostles Paul and Silas praised the Lord while in prison, and the early Christians sang hymns in many other passages, according to Abernathy. 
“Of course, over the centuries music in worship changed and developed,” she said. “In addition to Gregorian chant and other musical styles, new instruments were invented, and the organ became part of the music in the Western Church.” 
Abernathy has been playing the organ for Mass for 50 years, and the first version of a pipe organ was designed in Greece around 200 B.C., according to an article written by Thomas Acreman for Classic History on May 28, 2018. 
However, Mass was conducted a cappella for most of the first millennium A.D. An article published by Viscount, a company that sells organs, on Feb. 15, 2017, titled “History of Church Music–Part Two” says this was due to a belief that “musical instruments were worldly” and, therefore, antagonistic to faith. 
“It is not clear how the organ came to be such a standard church instrument in western Europe starting around the year 900. A key to this puzzle no doubt lies in the development of the Benedictine order,” Acreman says in the article. “The Benedictines were perhaps the only community to develop organs and polyphonic music (at that time), and to do so as a part of their church service.”
The organ was incorporated into the Mass and soon became associated with Christian worship. Hymns have been a part of the Christian church since its roots, and Paul encourages the Colossian church to sing with “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs,” in Colossians 3:16.
However, much like there is a debate between hymns and contemporary music today, churches argued over whether or not hymns were appropriate for worship because they were considered “contemporary” at one point.
“Some believed that hymns needed to be directly from
the Bible to be worshipful
and others went to the extreme and again eliminated instruments from their worship services, causing the hymns to
be chanted,” the Viscount article says.
Some hymns were written straight from the Scriptures, while others were penned by authors connecting principles found in the Bible. The hymnists were talented musicians who often composed thousands of songs in their lifetimes.
Not only are these hymns rich with deep theology, but there is often a back story behind each one. “It Is Well with My Soul” was written by a man who lost nearly everything in his life, and “Amazing Grace” was penned by a former slave trader named John Newton.
Other well-known classics include “A Mighty Fortress is our God” by Germany’s Martin Luther from the late 1520s, Isaac Watts of England’s “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” in 1707, and “Blessed Assurance” by the famed blind American Fanny Crosby in 1873.
However, the list is much longer than that and spans a large portion of history. Many of these hymns are still sung and enjoyed by Christians today. 
Around the 18th and 19th centuries, churches brought carols into their services, especially during Christmas and Easter, although carols originated much earlier in the 13th century, according to the Viscount article. 
Gospel songs became a part of Protestant worship music and were derived from African-American influence during the slavery era, according to MusicExpert editor Niki Foster in an article published on Oct. 6, 2022.
“Slaves also used the spiritual to communicate with each other, encoding messages about freedom and escape in apparently religious lyrics. For this reason, many songs are about the Exodus or God as liberator,” Foster says in the article. 
These spiritual songs brought in a new style of worship with upbeat tempos, according to the Viscount article, and influenced southern gospel music, which originated in 1910, Foster says.
Recently, there’s been a shift toward contemporary Christian music, which Viscount says “has modernized hymns as a whole or included iconic phrases in their song structure.” It carries a modern pop style, and popular bands include Third Day, Newsboys, MercyMe, Jeremy Camp and TobyMac.  
“Musical tastes are as varied as church members themselves. There are those who love the old hymns while others much prefer more contemporary Christian music,” says an article from Got Questions titled “Contemporary Christian Music – is it honoring to God?”
“Our primary concern should be for well-being and harmony in the body of Christ,” the article continues. “So, the question is this: Does a piece of music edify believers while bringing honor and glory to Christ Jesus? If so, then what difference does it make if the accompaniment is provided by a piano or a guitar?”
Music changes, trends fade, new instruments are made, but the act of praising the Lord through song has remained a timeless practice for Christians throughout the history of the world.
“We sing to praise, to mourn, to rejoice, to ask for our intentions,” Abernathy said. “(It) accompanies us through life.”